Japan and Globalization

Japan is home to a lot of ancient cultural artifacts and yet serves as an example of the developed world samurais, high-speed trains, home to some of the world’s largest tech companies, and may evision Tokyo as a bustling fast paced city. Japan’s population is declining, this isn’t unusual in a time where developed countries are relying on less children.What is overlooked when describing the now 3rd largest economy on Earth is how it went from surrendering during WWII to becoming an industrial superpower. There have been many changes but one have remained constant, which is the collective drive to work and excel. It has heavily influenced the Japan we know today.

This paper is going to lay out the general arguments of “The Japanese Miracle” written by Chalmers Johnson in the book titled “MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975”. Japan’s economy had been severely devastated after the World War II, the country’s production did not match the prewar level until 1954. But a significant economic growth was achieved in the period between the 1960s to 1970s and consequently turned Japan to be a strong economy, only after the United States and the Soviet Union at the time. Such an economic success was regarded as a “miracle” to the world despite many of the Japanese held a cautionary attitude towards the success. Chalmers Johnson stressed that Japan’s economic miracle was not

After centuries of living in seclusion to the outside world, the government knew that they needed the technological advancements that the West offered. The Industrial Revolution and growing urbanisation in Japan had intended to and succeeded in mimicking Western growth. Moreover, the Japanese were well-known for their diligence, discipline, perseverance, and hard work – this resulted in substantial economic development including increased shipping of commodities and a significant expansion of trade and handicraft industries. However, the political elite pocketed most of the profits through influence and corruption. Workers and farmers found it unfair that their patriotic and back-breaking labour only received a little wage in comparison, but with a state-controlled media and education system, they couldn’t make their voices heard. So overall, this collective and nationalistic open-mindedness for communal prosperity was beneficial for Japan as a whole, but the common people were disadvantaged with no access to basic human rights and a fair

By the nineteenth century Western nations had developed superior military technology than other countries. Western countries were able to control other nations by coercing them into unfair trading treaties which would leave the country economically dependent on them. The countries rarely resisted successfully due to their insufficient military power. This occured often Asia with only Japan and Thailand remaining independent. Only Japan thrived however and became an imperial power. Japan was an isolated country until the United States forcibly opened it to trade. Japan experienced a regime change following a tumultuous time in which western nations coerced Japan into trade treaties. The new government favored capitalism and industry which lead to Japan industrializing impressively fast through “top down” government mandated modernization. Western imperialism forced Japan to modernize in order to remain a sovereign and successful state. Modernization in this case was synonymous with becoming more like the West. Imperialism drastically changed Japanese economic interaction as well as Japanese culture and class system because modernization included becoming more like the West in most aspects but their treatment of women remained the same because the West did not treat women very differently.

Kon'nichiwa! I’m Japan! You probably know me for my aesthetic cherry blossoms and splendid anime, but let me tell you, things weren’t always as kawaii as they seemed. For a loooong time, I was isolated from other countries by my own shoguns and daimyos, my militaristic dictators and their warrior landlords respectively. We got along fine at first, but my common people were becoming increasingly unhappy with their little political power and heavy taxes. Then, on a fateful day in July of 1853, I met… the West.

The Japanese economy had changed immensely as it became a place of free trade and importations from being a place where there was little to no foreign interactions a century ago. The japanese had implemented this closed door policy due to the unruliness of the Europeans in the 17th century and felt complacent in their situation. Although the Japanese government implemented a closed-door policy from 1639 to 1854, their rapid economic development after this period was due to their similar geographical conditions to England. Their location allowed them to reap the benefits of being imperialized because they were able to westernize and set up the foundation of a good economy. They had been able to live peacefully while absorbing technology and culture from the Eurasian countries, this help them develop their ‘foreign acceptance’ as they were used to taking technology from other countries.

Its actions have helped initiate new industries, cushion the effects of economic depression, create a sound economic infrastructure, and protect the living standards of the citizenry. Indeed, so pervasive has government influence in the economy seemed that many foreign observers have popularized the term "Japan Inc." to describe its alliance of business and government interests. Whether Japan in the mid-1990s fit this picture seems questionable, but there is little doubt that government agencies continue to influence the economy through a variety of policies. Not only did the American press use the same terms as the federal government, but in doing so it also helped lay the framework of the Japanese- American internment in a completely inaccurate way (Lau, 2014).

Today in Japan, a reinvention is necessary. There are many struggles with the young generation, the old generation, and catastrophic events which should be addressed. Specifically, the Japanese economy has been experiencing deflation for the past twenty years. In an article, the results of the deflation were described. The authors said, “Because of fewer available jobs and lower

Japan’s political structure during the 19th and 20th Century would shift dramatically just as China’s did. After hundreds of years of rule by a Tokugawa feudal system, Japan was isolated and there was much division within the

In 1945, Japan was devastated and lost a quarter of the national wealth after suffering a defect in the second world war. A majority of the commercial buildings and accommodation had been demolished, and massive machinery and equipment formerly used in production for the civil market were out of service to provide metal for military supplies (Miyazaki 1967). Despite the trash and ruins had left over in Japan, Japan was able to rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstruct their economy. It is revealed that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, which received a rapid development since the war, and the reconstruction of Japan had spent less than forty years to become the world’s second largest economy in the 1980s. This essay will explore the three factors account for the economic growth of post-war Japan: the financial assistance from the United States, the external environment, and the effective policy of Japanese government.

Japan, one of the great powers of the world, which just 200 years ago, was an undeveloped nation moving along at a speed drastically less than that of the rest of the world. How was it then, that Japan was able to industrialize and modernize so quickly in such few years, even with its centuries of traditional protocol and isolation from the world? Even through the country’s complete destruction from World War 2, and having to start from basically ground zero in terms of its industries and social advancement, Japan was able to quickly rise up and become on the world’s largest technological and industrial powerhouses.

Jeffrey Kingston. Japan in Transformation, 1952 – 2000. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. 230 pp.

Globalisation has had a profound impact on the Japanese economy influencing levels of international trade, business operations, financial flows, government policy, labour markets and even environment. This movement has been driven primarily by numerous TNCs, trade liberalization, and the deregulation of the financial system, and numerous strategies adopted by the Government and Economy, resulting in the creation of a 'new' Japan.

Chapter 8: International Strategy ---- P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project (written by Christopher A. Bartlett)

Japan ranks as the third largest economy in the world as of 2010. The GDP at current prices in US dollars in Japan was reported at 5068.06 billion in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Japan’s resurgence after World War II has however reached an inflection point in yearly 1989 after the burst of Japan’s asset price and real estate bubbles. As can be seen from the graph below, Japan’s GDP has hovered around the same level through more than 20 years of economic stagnation. The GDP’s slow growth has been exacerbated by the world financial crisis of 2008. A major landmark of Japan’s stagnation has been the BOJ’s fight against deflation.